This document discusses eating habits, weight control, and factors that affect weight management. It provides tips for improving eating habits such as keeping a food diary to identify triggers for overeating. Weight control involves achieving a healthy weight based on gender, height and body frame through diet and exercise. Factors like genetics, hormones, environment, and energy balance can influence weight. Fad diets that promise quick results without effort are not effective for long-term weight loss or health. Dietary supplements can provide additional nutrients but are not intended to treat diseases.

1. EATING HABITS AND WEIGHT CONTROL
Eating habits characterizes the way an
individual consumes food. It relates how, why,
what, and with whom an individual eat, as
well as the way he/she gains, stores, uses,
and discards food.
Weight control is the process of achieving
and maintaining the desired weight of an
individual. The desired weight, or the best
weight, is based on gender, height, and body
frame.

2. • here are some helpful ways to improve eating
disorders;
1. Writing a food diary for a number of days
consisting of a list of eating with the specific
food eaten and the time it was consumed.
2. Marking the habits in the list that might lead to
overeating.
3. identifying all triggers of these unhealthy eating
habits and picking a few ones that could be
improved initially.

3. 4. Reviewing the diary and listing the signs or
cues that trigger eating other than the
reason for feeling hungry.
5. Reflecting on each sign or cue listed; how
it could be avoided and the possibility of
other healthier options if they cannot be
avoided.
6. Refraining from unhealthy habits while
substituting them with healthy ones.
7. Sustaining the new healthy habits. Habits
are formed through time and patience.

4. Factors that can affect weight control
The internal factors are mainly body related like
genetics and hormonal secretions. The external
factors, however, directly influence weight
management such as diet, physical activities,and
social settings.
1. Genetic Factors and Hormones. There are some
rare conditions of extreme obesity affecting
about 1% of the population. Obesity can also be
related to hormones like leptin that depresses
appetite and contributes to feelings of hunger,
respectively.

5. 2. Environmental factors. Proper diet and
exercise are the main measures to counter
obesity.
3. The Concept of Energy Balance. Energy
balance is achieved when the amount of
consumed calories equals the amount of
calories used in order to maintain body
weight.

6. • There are three factors that contribute to the
total energy spent on a daily basis: basal
metabolic rate, physical activity, and thermic
effect of food.
Basal metabolic rate refers to the energy spent by
the body t maintain homeostasis. Aging decreases
basal metabolic rate and this contributes to weight
gain as people grow older. Energy is also spent
every time the muscle contracts when we perform
physical activities. Thermic effect of food refers to
the energy spent to digest the food. Eating
complex carbohydrates increases digestion time
and may help in increasing energy expenditure.

7. FAD DIETS AND SUPPLEMENTS
A diet that promises quick results with little effort
easily earns and loses poplarity shortly after
consumers realize it as just a false advertisement.
These kinds of diet are “fad”, as they come and go.
Any diet claiming instant results without exercise or
reduction of calorie intake will not reduce body fat.
 here are guidelines for safe and nutritious diet:
• eat food that are low in calories but provides all
required essential body nutrients such as vitamins
and minerals.
• fat should be less than 30% of total calories with
high complex carbohydrates.

8. • variety of food to suit tastes and avoid hunger
between meals.
• diet should be lifelong and sustainable.
Dietary Supplement
dietary supplements are substances that
contribute to health maintenance and overall diet.
These include vitamins, minerals, amino acids,
enzymes, and animal extracts. Dietary supplement
come in different forms, usually, in tablets and
capsules.

9. Benefits of Dietary Supplements
these supplements complement the dietary
intake of essential nutrients and help reduce the
risk of diseases. But these are not medicinal drugs
intended to “cure” particular diseases.